Computer Claustrophobia

Bill is back. I won't be posting for awhile but you can find a lot to wade through at his place, including the following:

From Ingsoc And Newspeak To Amcap, Amerigood, And Marketspeak

In the increasingly inegalitarian system that prevails, Amcap, Amerigood and Marketspeak are flourishing and have a more important role to play than ever. They have been doing their job—"largely the defense of the indefensible" as Orwell put it—with a sophistication and effectiveness that Ingsoc could never command. Their innovations in language are continuous, filling all emerging propaganda gaps. At home, a law encroaching on civil liberties is called a "Patriot Act;" laws that free the weak and poor from their "entitlements" by pushing them into the labor market are referred to as "reform" and "empowerment," and they are said to reflect "tough love" of the suffering Proles. In military and foreign policy, a government agency openly designed to disseminate disinformation is entitled "Office of Strategic Influence;" missiles are "Peacekeepers," and military alliances are "Partnerships for Peace." The appeasement of amenable state terrorists (Mobutu, Suharto, the governments of apartheid South Africa) is called "constructive engagement"; civilian deaths from the "humanitarian bombing" of "rogue states" is "collateral damage."

Here is a site to have fun with while I'm away.
UPDATE: Michael at Spontaneous Arising just left me speechless. (If I could be left more speechless than I was already) He says it all so well. Read daily and listen.

If anyone is inclined to update mousemusings for awhile, let me know. posted by Cyndy | link | | |
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